But now, with nine games remaining in the regular season as of Sept. 21, the Brew Crew is headlining Major League Baseball’s hottest and tightest pennant race. Three of the five teams in the National League Central — Milwaukee, Chicago and St. Louis — could swing their way into the postseason.

The division title is still up for grabs between the Brewers and Cubs, with the second-place team likely snagging the NL’s first Wild Card slot. The Cardinals could still sneak in as the league’s second Wild Card team.

The Brewers, led by two-time NL Player of the Week Christian Yelich, sit near the top of the league’s leaderboard in home runs and hits, with the Cubs and Cards in that mix, too. Left fielder Yelich and first baseman Jesús Aguilar both cleared the fences more than 30 times this season for Milwaukee, and Yelich is among the top run-scorers in all of Major League Baseball.

In a word, Yelich. As a first-year player with the Brewers following five seasons with the Miami Marlins during which he collected such shiny awards as a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger, the mild-mannered 26-year-old deserves at least one more honor: National League Most Valuable Player.

“He’s one of the best players I’ve seen playing the game right now,” third baseman Mike Moustakas, a veteran with postseason experience the Brewers picked up from the Kansas City Royals in late July, recently told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He’s been hot for a long time and he’s carrying this ball club — offense, defense, obviously on the basepaths — to win a ballgame.”

Meanwhile, Lorenzo Cain, who was Moustakas’ teammate on the Royals’ 2014 and 2015 World Series teams — has saved countless runs by Brewers’ opponents by making acrobatic catches in center field and establishing himself as a prime Gold Glove contender. (Cain left the Sept. 18 game against the Cincinnati Reds with a rib cage injury.)

This team has enough talent both in the field and at the plate to extend its schedule beyond 162 games. But Milwaukee must approach each one of these final nine as if it’s Game 7 of the World Series. And hope the Cubs lose a few, too.